Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to transfer N32.7 billion and $445,000.

Recovered from officials of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development to the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) so the money can be used for its original purpose.

Falana, who leads the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), explained that the recovered funds were initially approved by the President for the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).

This programme includes the school feeding project, N-Power, conditional cash transfers, and small business loans under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

He noted that although the EFCC has recovered the full N32.7 billion along with $445,000, the money has not yet been redirected to NSIPA.

This goes against the Commission’s stated policy of returning recovered funds to the projects they were meant for.

Falana commended the EFCC for its work but urged the Commission to also recover the outstanding N20 billion that is still missing.

He stressed that the recovered funds should be sent to NSIPA to help ease the suffering of over 133 million Nigerians living in poverty.

He further called on federal, state, and local governments to increase their support for social programmes, especially now that government revenues are rising.

According to him, social protection should be properly funded and not treated with token measures.

Falana’s statement comes at a time when many Nigerians are demanding transparency and accountability in the handling of social welfare funds, especially after several corruption scandals have rocked the sector.